15 COLLABORATION TIPS FOR CORPORATES 1 Get buy-in throughout 2 Have a startup your whole company. innovation champion You can’t just mandate and encourage them from the top, you need to get immersed in the the people who will local startup ecosystem. have to implement. Don’t isolate your Create the right 3 innovation team. It’s 4 infrastructure and an inter-departmental processes - sandboxes, activity - from legal, risk, APIs, test data for new procurement and IT. solutions, and fast-track procurement processes with streamlined SLAs. Identify the right Understand how 5 KPIs for innovation. 6 startups think and Traditional metrics won’t be aware of their often reflect the true reservations. value of innovation. 7 Ensure the startup is 8 Collaborate, don’t complimentary to your dominate. Recognise business. Don’t just work that the startups are with a startup because bringing value and their product is ‘cool’. are generally wary of corporates. 9 Startups change fast, 10 Move fast. Understand but recognize that you startups can be born won’t, at least not yet. and die within the space One partnership with of time it takes for you to a startup won’t change negotiate a contract! your company. It has to be part of a long-term strategy and solutions.